The number of charges related to domestic abuse has halved since 2015, figures for England and Wales uncovered by the Labour party have revealed, while similar offences recorded by police have more than doubled.
Domestic abuse charges authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have steadily declined from 82,158 in 2015-2016 to 43,836 in 2021-2022, the data shows. Over the same period, the total number of domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police has soared by 116% from 421,185 in 2015-2016 to 910,980 in 2021-2022.
The number of cases that come in to the CPS is often lower than the number of offences recorded by police and reports received.
In the most recently available data period, from 1 July to 30 September, the CPS said it received 17,874 referrals from police on domestic abuse cases and the rate of cases that were charged was 76.5%.
Labour said not enough was being done to tackle repeat offenders of domestic abuse.
Ellie Reeves MP, Labour’s lead on violence against women and girls in the shadow justice team, said: “Repeat domestic violence is a blight on our society. After 13 years, the Conservative legacy is criminals being let off while victims are being let down.
“Labour is the party of law and order. The next Labour government will prevent crime, punish criminals and protect communities. We will tackle the epidemic of violence against women and girls by introducing a domestic violence register to monitor perpetrators of abuse, speeding up justice and support for victims with specialist rape courts, and setting longer jail terms for rapists.”
The Labour government has pledged to introduce a new domestic abuse register to track offenders and help protect victims.
Similar to the existing violent and sex offender register, the new index would mean those convicted of serial domestic abuse and stalking must give personal information to the police and notify them of any change in circumstances.
The latest research from the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme has found that 63% of suspects of intimate partner homicides are previously known to police for domestic abuse.
A government source said: “Labour’s answer to violence against women and girls is to trot out tired soundbites. Whereas this government has criminalised controlling behaviour and upskirting, increased sentences for spiking, made it easier for abuse victims to give evidence in court, given more than £230m to support domestic abuse and £125m to make our streets safer. Everyone knows Labour would be softer on criminals.”
The CPS has made changes to its domestic abuse legal guidance to prosecutors and in December it published a new domestic abuse policy statement which sets out an ambition to increase the volume of domestic abuse prosecutions and to improve criminal justice outcomes for victims.
A spokesperson for the CPS said: “We recognise there is more work that needs to be done on domestic abuse, we want to reassure people that it is a priority for the CPS and are committed to securing justice in as many cases as we can.
“We are working closely with the police to encourage joint working from the earliest stage when handling domestic abuse cases, taking a similar approach to our work on rape which has already started making an impact.”
